I live my life in Tokyo

The young high school waitress who worked part-time in the restaurant left with a red face. While drinking water, Sakakibara Kaede took out the manuscript and pen.

Next week's rivalry with Sakakibara Kaede is almost over, and the main issue is whether the two can keep the same rhythm. Next week's plot is the starting point of the emotional explosion between Kitahara Hiroshi and Nishida Orange, and it is also the first time Kitahara Hiroshi knows about Nishida Orange's pain.

A rift has appeared between the childhood sweethearts who seemed to be close. Who can fill this rift?

No way.

Sakakibara Kaede didn’t know that next week’s plot has not yet been written here.

Well, the ending is 100% that the person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. After all, Sakakibara Kaede knew that Kitahara Hiroshi and Nishida Orange got married in the end.

But no matter what, the focus of this rivalry is only the changes in the relationship between the characters played by Sakakibara Kaede and Sakurajima Mai.

"Do you understand the plot, Sakakibara-san?" Mai Sakurajima stared straight at the boy's face, her words carrying the seriousness of her work, "I can tell you about my inner journey from Nishida Orange's perspective."

The boy pondered for a moment, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table. "The plot isn't a big problem, I've seen most of it. But similar to Kitahara Hiroshi's inner thoughts, I think some performances can only be tried out on the spot."

"I can ensure that I will do my best here, but please don't waste my throat... You know, shouting at the top of your lungs is very tiring." Sakurajima Mai's understanding of Nishida Orange is no less than Sakakibara Kaede's understanding of Kitahara Hiroshi. In other words, she really likes characters like Nishida Orange who have two personalities in front of and behind people, which is undoubtedly a challenge to her acting skills.

Nishida Orange was raised with high hopes from her family. Her parents, who had achieved certain academic success, put tremendous pressure on her. In addition to her homework, she also had a lot of personal assignments to do every day.

At this time, two Nishida Oranges were born. One was lively and gentle in front of others, the proud daughter of her parents, and a good student with both good character and good academic performance in school.

A self-loathing, confused person who believes that his true self is disliked and not needed by others.

The latter put on a mask and became the former.

"The current Nishida Orange is not the real Nishida Orange. I am looking forward to the moment when the mask breaks, Sakurajima-senpai."

"It will just waste some tissues."

As they were talking, the set meal for three people was brought up. Sakakibara Kaede looked at the full plate of food in front of him and suddenly felt a long-lost sense of emotion.

Only when you are full can you have the motivation to live. Adding a little change to the monotonous life every day is romance.

He eats Chinese boxed lunches for breakfast and dinner, and Japanese boxed lunches for lunch at work. Today, he had a rare Western meal. This is a steak and vegetable set meal at a family restaurant. In the man's mind, this is a Michelin three-star Wellington steak!

"Why do you look like that? We're just having dinner at a family restaurant. You're exaggerating, Sakakibara-senpai."

"Sakakibara-san had the same expression at noon today."

Higuchi Enka silently finished off the attack.

"Ahem, don't talk while eating." Sakakibara Kaede said seriously.

The two girls snorted at him, and Sakurajima Mai began to ask about their work progress - she originally wanted to participate in the audition, but her work schedule was very full. In addition to the TV series, she was also shooting a winter clothing advertisement for a famous clothing brand.

However, there are some differences between Mai Sakurajima and Ken Sano. The latter is so busy with work that she hardly has any time to rest.

Speaking of this, Sakakibara Kaede didn't play dead anymore. He flipped through the script with one hand and said, "There are many professional actors from different agencies. They are all my seniors. This time I just chose the leading role because my looks are suitable. I won't be so lucky to get the leading role next time."

"Speaking of which, I finally met a junior on the set today." The boy introduced with great interest, "The girl is from Burning Production and is still a trainee actress. This commercial is her first in her acting career."

Mai Sakurajima narrowed her eyes slowly, "Oh? What kind of girl?"

The man smiled teasingly, "An ordinary high school girl. Well, an actress from the Takarazuka genre. She looks like a type that's quite popular with girls."

Mai Sakurajima nodded slowly, "Oh, you're so observant?"

"After all, we have to act opposite each other." Sakakibara Kaede spread his hands helplessly and said, "The eye contact part was finally performed by Higuchi-san and I. That junior seems to be quite sensitive to eye contact and gets shy when he looks at me."

The boy sighed, "The eye contact should be natural. Maybe my eyes are too aggressive for a junior like me. I need to change it next time I shoot."

"What's that look?" Sakurajima Mai was aroused by the boy's bragging, and the omelette rice on the spoon suddenly lost its fragrance. "Sakakibara junior, can you perform it on the spot?"

"I refuse! My favorite thing to do as the Wolf King is to say NO to those self-righteous guys!" Sakakibara Feng held the knife and fork in both hands and spoke righteously.

"Then I'll treat you to dinner." Sakurajima Mai snorted and looked provocative.

Higuchi Yuanxiang chimed in, "Mai-senpai, 1,500 yen for a look is a losing deal anyway."

"Yeah, but even so, this arrogant junior won't agree." Sakurajima Mai pretended to be pitiful and started crying.

The boy cleared his throat and said, "Can you please stop for a moment, ladies? Why am I so evil in the middle of a conversation?"

"A meal, and I'll treat you to a scoop of ice cream as well." Mai Sakurajima followed up.

"make a deal."

The boy gathered his emotions. To be honest, he hadn't finished his bloody medium-rare steak yet. Asking him to show the expression he would show when he saw his crush during the pilgrimage would be like being called to eat in the middle of a game.

However, for the sake of the ice cream scoop, he still calmed down.

In the cafeteria, he was so far away from her. She was always surrounded by her best friends. One could understand how popular she was amid their laughter and chatter without having to think too much.

It was such a gentle, youthful and cheerful girl who sat down opposite the little transparent girl with a tray in her hand.

Facing Xiao Tou Ming's reservedness, she showed a smile like Bai Baihe, "Classmate, the other seats are full, do you mind if I sit here?"

The boy raised his head and looked into the distance with a faint smile on his lips. The upturned corners of his mouth revealed the boy's inner excitement, and his blue eyes were filled with hazy waves like water.

Yes.

I watch you silently across the water, because we are not from the same world.

Mai Sakurajima looked away for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed inside, but then she turned her eyes away and continued to look at the boy.

It was as if I was sucked in.

It wasn't until the waiter passed by the table of three that Mai Sakurajima reacted. She coughed lightly and put the cooled omelette rice in the spoon into her mouth.

"How's my acting?" the boy said with a smile, the expression on his face was very clear, praise, praise as much as possible.

Mai Sakurajima raised the spoon and said reluctantly, "It's normal."

"Senior, you are really not candid."

Mai Sakurajima smiled slightly, calming her heartbeat, and brought the topic back on track, "I feel that Sakakibara-san has a strong competitive spirit, but that's what actors are like, they compete with others for the leading role while constantly challenging themselves."

"My requirements are not that high." The man waved his hand, looking bleak. "I can accept any role, whether it's the lead role, supporting role, or even the villain... It would be even better if it's the kind of villain who can die heroically after appearing in three episodes."

"Ugh, what kind of masochistic request is this."

"Heh." Sakakibara Kaede chuckled, with a hook on the corner of her mouth, "You are shallow after all, Sakurajima-senpai."

"No one is born to be a bad guy. Are villains who go against the protagonist necessarily bad to the core? Yes, but not many. Most of them just have different standpoints. Protagonists and villains do not necessarily mean good guys and bad guys. They are just opposites. They start to fight because of their different standpoints. In the end, there will be a winner, but this winner is usually the protagonist."

“People always want to understand each other for some reason, but it is impossible to fully understand each other.”

The man crossed his fingers and put them in front of his chin, pretending to be in deep thought like Gendo Ikari. "It's a pleasure to discover and understand the villain."

Mai Sakurajima thought about the man's words. Even though they sounded a bit strange and the person who said it was strange as well, she had to admit that there was some truth in what he said.

"There are not as many female villains as male ones," Higuchi Madoka complained calmly.

The man shook his head and narrowed his blue eyes. "No, I suddenly thought of one. Although it is unlikely that this anime will be adapted into a live-action version... where can I find the yellow-skinned rat and the garlic-headed turtle?"

Hearing such a simple and straightforward hint, Mai Sakurajima's lips curled up, "Musashi from Pokémon! She is a female villain."

"Then I am Kojiro." Sakakibara Kaede pushed up his non-existent glasses.

Mai Sakurajima paused for a moment, then continued reluctantly under Sakakibara Kaede's urging gaze, "We are Team Rocket, traveling through the galaxy—"

"——White Hole! A white tomorrow is waiting for us!"

The two men looked at Higuchi Yuanka at the same time, and the latter cleared her throat, extinguishing the man's fantasy, "I'm not meow meow."

Chapter 33 I thought you had something profound to say

Some have losses.

The boy showed a shy smile on his face, revealing a side of himself that was not familiar to the supervisor and director.

"Arnold, how do I get to this road?"

The young boy stared at his supervisor with his charming blue eyes pitifully, looking like a puppy that was abandoned in the spot.

The helplessness and hesitation made the supervisor nervous. The boy's voice was so weak that it seemed as if a slight breeze could blow him to the ground.

A female supervisor covered her heart with her hands, her eyes were gentle, and her mouth opened and closed, as if she would stand up on the spot the next moment and rush to the boy to help him solve his problems.

"Thank you for your performance, Sakakibara-kun from STARS, your acting is excellent." The director crossed his fingers and said in a harmonious voice.

"No, it's my pleasure."

The boy spoke modestly, and his aura returned to his usual calmness from the weakness in his acting.

"Next person."

Kaede Sakakibara opened the door for the next actor who auditioned. He felt that the success rate of this audition was not high - the role arranged for him was a puppy role of a boy next door.

Ridiculous! Trying to ask the Urban Dragon King to act as a dog is ridiculous!

These words sounded like self-consolation, but the man didn't care much about the result of the audition. Even if he was assigned a minor role, it would be fine. His life was busy enough recently.

The life of going back and forth between work and home has made him regain some of the feeling of being a social animal in his previous life.

The boy thought there was nothing wrong with this kind of life. He was just like that in the past. The few times he had for entertainment might be reading a novel on the subway on the way to the company, playing some games after returning home, and sleeping in on weekends.

Time suddenly became free, and the boy didn't know what to do for a while.

It's a lie that work makes people fulfilled. The man looked around. The strangeness and freshness often made him feel unreal.

Maybe I am colorless now in this colorful world.

Shaking his head and stopping complaining, Sakakibara went to the vending machine and bought a bottle of drink. He unscrewed the cap and took a sip, only to find that he had bought Pepsi.

kuso.

He looked towards the audition room, and after careful consideration, he took a step forward.

. . .

An hour later, in the lounge.

In a script where the lead actor, the second male lead and the third male lead are all in demand, Sakakibara Kaede is unable to hold his own and loses out in the competition with veteran actors.

By the way, he who originally auditioned for the third male lead auditioned again for the villain role, but was told that the villain in this play was not that handsome and he should find another job.

His role of the boy next door was not that mature either. He had never been a sidekick, so where did he get the experience to act like that?

Moreover, he has never paid much attention to the image of such a little milk dog in TV dramas. The main reason is that he has no interest in such roles. Do such people really exist in real life? Aren't they just pretending?

It’s normal that you won’t be selected if you don’t have similar experience.

The work schedule was tight and busy. He went to two film sets in the morning and had just finished his lunch at the private Shuchiin Academy when he was urged by his agent Kei Iida to come for an audition in the afternoon.

As the only few talented people in STARS, the man has already started to lick the bodies of tens of thousands of clients and investors in the market, which is somewhat similar to his previous life. Although his profession has changed, his kneeling and licking actions remain unchanged, which is really tear-jerking when you think about it.

He didn't even get a supporting role.

The reason for failure is the same: how can a supporting role be so handsome?

In the entertainment industry, voice actors and singers have it much easier for those who work behind the scenes. The audience can only hear their voices but not their faces. Voice actors can easily get extras, but why are actors so inconvenient?

The man propped himself up and walked to the vending machine. This time he observed carefully and realized that he had not ordered the wrong Pepsi, but two cans of coffee.

Playing with the warm jar, the man strolled to the waiting area and greeted the golden-haired prickly-head who had been waiting there for a long time.

"You look tired, is that okay?" The man handed Uehara Yo a can of sweet coffee and noticed the dark circles under his eyes that were still visible despite his makeup. "Didn't you sleep well these past two days?"

Uehara Yo pulled the ring of the can and said with a wry smile, "I can still maintain the spirit to play the role, and my condition is still okay."

"In our daily life as a high school student, there are scenes where I exclude classmates and am criticized and reprimanded by the teacher. Although the lines and duration are short, I need to use actions and facial expressions to show the inner self of the bully. In addition to memorizing the lines, I also need to prepare for the audition and practice controlling my facial muscles... I have been suffering from insomnia for the past two days, and even when I fell asleep, I was still auditioning."

He twisted his temples. "When I have dark circles under my eyes or lack of sleep, my eyes become fierce. In the past two days, some customers in the convenience store have accused me of having a bad service attitude."

Sakakibara Kaede took a sip of black coffee, and after swallowing the bitterness in his mouth, only a slight sweetness remained.

He doesn't have the trouble of memorizing lines, but he is not as good as many people in character creation and interpretation.

He could only imitate things he had experienced or seen - a process that took longer than he thought to put himself into.

A person's imagination is formed based on his thoughts and experiences. The same is true for the fact that the prototypes of monsters in superhero movies are mostly dinosaurs.

To put it bluntly, if he is asked to play the role of an adventurer surviving in the Amazon rainforest, unless he has actually experienced such an adventure, he can only choose to spend several days and nights imitating Bear Grylls.

“Did you get the role?”

Uehara Yo showed a comfortable smile on his face and nodded, "I got it. It's the little brother next to the female villain. I read the script. Although I don't have many scenes, most of them are scenes where I get killed instantly and scream and run away. This scream is very distinctive and should leave a good impression on the audience and the director."

"What about you?"

"No."